Artist Marnie Gilder and her farming husband Rob have combined their creative talents to renovate two homes on their Barossa Valley property — and the results are spectacular.

Words Genevieve Meegan | Photographs John Montesi and Caroline Cameron

Marnie Gilder says she’s a firm believer that successful people adapt to change, and she is living proof of the power of that concept.

Marnie, her husband Rob and their two children Annabelle, 15, and Alf, 12, live at Mount McKenzie in the Barossa Valley.

It is a picturesque property, with the main house sitting high on a hill, surrounded by gum trees and taking in the spectacular views of the far-off vineyards and valleys.

But it’s the path that led Rob, 59, and Marnie, 48, to this beautiful region of South Australia that really reflects their resilience, determination and ability to adapt under pressure.

That path began with the fateful moment Marnie, a well-known South Australian artist, first met Rob in 2007 on the cattle station he owned in the Victorian town of Licola.

The station, Glenfalloch, was at the base of the Alpine National Park in Gippsland and had been in Rob’s family for many generations.

Rob and Marnie’s families had known each other for years – Rob’s parents were friends with Marnie’s grandparents – and Marnie had actually been to Glenfalloch as a child.

However, Rob, being 11 years older, was not around much back then and the duo’s paths had never crossed.

That was until Marnie, who is also good friends with Rob’s sister Rose, ended up back at Glenfalloch to help Rob recover from the 2006-07 bushfire.

“I went up with Rose just to help cook and clean while Rob was trying to repair a burnt down shearing shed and re-fence, and just get his life back together,” Marnie says. “Unbeknownst to me, Rob knew who I was as he’d seen an article about me in SALIFE magazine years earlier and he’d said to Rose, ‘That’s my future wife’.

“And although we’d never met, I had seen a photo of Rob in The Australian newspaper when they did a story on the bushfires of Licola.

“In the photo, he was riding a horse down the side of a burnt-out hill and my grandma said, ‘This is Rob, who you are going to help’, and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, he looks like a lovely man’.”

So, after spending time at Glenfalloch post bushfires, the couple met up just four more times before Rob popped the question.

Marnie, who grew up in the Barossa and had a well-established career as an artist under her maiden name Wark, made the move to the cattle station straight after the wedding.

“Because Rob was rebuilding after the fires, as soon as I got to the property, we were just on a mission to get the project done, so we didn’t really have a honeymoon period of sitting around staring into each other’s eyes,” Marnie says. “We just got on with the job.”

One thing the couple had in common was their love of art and design and Marnie says she couldn’t believe it when she walked into Rob’s old farm house kitchen and there was art on the wall.

“Rob and his family have always had an appreciation for the arts but to see these lovely paintings and prints in an old farm house, I just thought, ‘Gosh, there’s a lot more to this man than just agriculture’.”

The couple started a family quickly, having daughter Annabelle in 2008 and son Alf in 2011.

But raising a family in such a remote location was never going to be easy, particularly given the house had no mains power or town water – Marnie warmed baby’s bottles on a wood-fire stove.

There was also no local school at Licola so Marnie and the children moved to Sale when the children were kindergarten age, while Rob continued to run the station.

“Also, because we had been impacted by fires and floods at the property, it was probably on my radar before it was on Rob’s radar that perhaps we might have to leave one day,” Marnie says.

That time came in 2015 when the family packed up and moved back to Marnie’s heartland of the Barossa Valley.

Rob, being a farmer, still wanted plenty of land and Marnie wanted to be no further than seven kilometres from a town. They found the perfect property at the place they now call home in Mount McKenzie.

The main house on the property was a 1970s brown brick home that was in need of updating.

Also, as part of the property sale, the couple purchased an old stone cottage on an adjoining block of land. That was in a state of disrepair but it had good bones and both Marnie and Rob were keen to return it to its former glory.

Given they were used to rolling up their sleeves and getting on with a house project, Rob and Marnie set their sights on renovating both houses and enlisted the help of architects Williams Burton Leopardi.

They began work on the old stone cottage first – with the idea to live in that while they renovated the main home. Marnie says Rob has an incredible eye for design and detail, and he was the driver behind the cottage renovation, in collaboration with Williams Burton Leopardi.

Rob says he likes contemporary design and also “liked the heritage of the stone Barossa cottage and wanted to create something that was interesting, thoughtful and good to live in”. 

A modern renovation was added to the rear of the cottage, and the couple opted for a dark, moody feel for the interior of the kitchen.

“I had this vision that I really wanted a black kitchen. I wanted something very dramatic,” Marnie says. “To me, it’s almost theatrical where you have the kitchen with this beautiful marble bench and then you stand behind it, with this black and mirrored backdrop, it’s almost like a stage where you’re preparing the food.

“So, I think that’s why it looks so black and dark and quite moody. I also love how art works look on black walls.”

The couple has installed a gallery hanging system so they can constantly and easily change what’s on show at the cottage – and many of Marnie’s artworks are on display around the home.

While she has created her painting career under her maiden name of Wark, Marnie has also established another stream of her business, creating prints under her married name of Gilder.

“We had intended to use the cottage just for somewhere for family and friends to stay but we have decided to turn it into a holiday rental,” Marnie says.

“And Rob doesn’t know this yet but I will put my artwork on display in the hallway with everything on the walls up for sale.

“I just love putting pictures up in the house, I love a change of vibe. I do this in the main house as well, as the kids change and grow they go from wanting their own pictures in their rooms to now not wanting anything of theirs or mine.”

The interior furnishings and finishes of the cottage are a beautiful mix of high-end pieces alongside second-hand and vintage items, as well as antiques from Rob’s family farm, and a collaboration of both Rob and Marnie’s collected artworks.

Marnie also loves to dig through auction houses and thrift shops in the hunt for unique pieces for both the main house and the cottage.

However, one of her favourite elements in the cottage are the lights that Rob sourced from an antiques dealer in Melbourne.

“They are designed by Karl Hagenauer, a 1920s Austrian designer and they have this beautiful green glass and brass balls on them,” she says. “We thought we’d end up taking them to the main house but they look so beautiful in here we can’t bring ourselves to move them.

“I love a really eclectic interior. I didn’t want the cottage to just be filled with Italian designer furniture, the odd piece here and there is great, but I am very aware that we’re in South Australia in the Barossa and I wanted a few older pieces.

“Rob’s not into thrift shopping as much as I am so I really have to sell a thrift piece to him, but I can usually get him over the line if it’s genuinely beautiful.”

Marnie says yellow lounge chairs purchased at Scammell’s Auction House 20 years ago are another favourite buy, taking pride of place in the cottage living room.

Another of her favourite elements is a winding stone wall which the couple had built as part of the cottage renovation.

“It was built by an incredible artisan stonemason named Steven Harper,” Marnie says. “Rob had seen his work around the Adelaide Hills and he saw him one day and pulled over and started talking to him.

“So, I would say what Steven does is more of an art than a trade, and we commissioned him to make this beautiful wall around the cottage.

“It just adds such warmth and it really seems to ground the build.”

Once the cottage renovation was finished, the main house was gutted ready for that mammoth project. However, then the Covid lockdowns hit and the family enjoyed living in the cosy cottage for two and a half years while they renovated the main house.

The main objective for the renovation of the 1970s house was to open up the interiors – creating a light, airy home with plenty of space for entertaining.

“The main problem was that it had relatively small rooms which was great in winter, but if it was raining or 40 degrees, we didn’t really have anywhere to entertain more than six people,” Marnie says. “I remember our Christmas table would run between two rooms, with some in the living room and some in the dining room, so we really needed to pull down walls and open it all up so that we could entertain friends and family no matter the weather.

“We’ve definitely achieved that. We had 25 people here for Easter lunch this year and I wasn’t worried about it at all because I knew the space would work so well.”

Again, the renovation work was done under the guidance of Williams Burton Leopardi, who Marnie says were very patient with the couple as they adjusted and changed plans.

“When we first started thinking about the main house project, we had relatively young children and I remember I wanted the children’s bedrooms as far away from our bedroom as possible,” Marnie says.

“But, over time and as they were getting closer to being teenagers, I wanted them very close, so things did change a bit.

“Also, over the years, building expenses dramatically increased, so there were a few things we just needed to rejig, because it was a really different economic climate. The rejigs were major, for example we scrapped an internal stairwell that accessed an office that we were planning to cut into the side of the hill.”

Other changes to the home included rendering the exterior walls and installing a pool.

As for the garden, Marnie says because they are surrounded by such beautiful gums, they didn’t do much except add some plantings around the place to soften the build.

Having grown up in the Barossa, Marnie had always admired this home from afar, but it wasn’t until she stood on the hill that she fully appreciated the aspect of the house and the views it provides.

However, she also says the brown brick and 1970s interiors were not “aesthetically aligned to my dream house vision”.

“But then again I’ve lived in a lot of houses, mainly rentals, and I’ve realised that eventually every house feels like home,” she says. “I don’t really believe in seeing your dream house and buying it, I think you create your dream home.

“That’s what I feel we’ve created here – a beautiful family home, good for entertaining, with a hip, urban feel, whereas the cottage is more rustic.”

Marnie says she and Rob have always worked well as a team, thanks to the combination of his eye for detail and her bigger picture approach.

She particularly admires Rob’s sense of style and self-taught knowledge of design and architecture.

Rob says he has always enjoyed design and this project was the first opportunity that he had to work with an architect.

As well as his hands-on approach to the renovation, Rob’s work now includes running a nearby shiraz vineyard which the couple purchased from Marnie’s parents, James and the late Di Wark.

Rob is also embracing the Barossa lifestyle, including all of the incredible local food and wine offerings.

“It was hard leaving the farm in Gippsland but the Barossa is another beautiful region full of great people,” he says.

Now that both houses are complete, Marnie is keen to turn her attention back to her art practice, focusing on her print works.

“I am finding that managing a family and two teenagers and my husband and the property does involve a lot of energy, which I previously just gave all to my art practice,” she says.

“So, I still get the great artistic outlet by making prints, but it’s just more of a concentrated hit with a faster turnaround.”

She has also enjoyed the creative outlet of renovating two very different houses, which are “more amazing than I ever could have imagined”.

“I feel really lucky to be back home in the Barossa,” she says. “I probably thrive on change and I have loved being here and having a project to work on with the houses.

“I suppose I’ve come back now as a middle-aged person and I can see all the incredible things that are on offer in South Australia and I am really enjoying what we’ve created here, to share with family and friends which was the main brief of why we moved back.

“I think when I was single, everything was all about my art practice, whereas now there’s a number of things way ahead of it that I value, combined with my practice, as well. Life is probably a bit more balanced now.”

 

 

This article first appeared in the May 2024 issue of SALIFE magazine.